Active occupant status and vehicle operational status warning system and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12240376-B2
Application number	US-202117542807-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2021
Priority date	Dec 9, 2020
Publication date	Mar 4, 2025
Grant date	Mar 4, 2025

Abstract

Systems and methods including at least one internal sensor attached internally to a vehicle, at least one external sensor mounted externally to the vehicle, wherein the external sensor detects at least one of a distance of other vehicles, a speed of other vehicles, driving patterns of other vehicles, and weather conditions; and at least one display configured to receive input from the internal sensor and the at least one external sensor, wherein the at least one display notifies a driver of an adjacent vehicle and/or a system controlling an adjacent manually-driven, semi-autonomous, or self-driving car of at least one of the occupation status of the vehicle, operational status of the vehicle, weather conditions, changing driving behaviors, when the adjacent vehicle exceeds a speed threshold, and/or when the distance between the vehicle and the adjacent vehicle falls below a minimum separation distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for detecting and reporting occupant and operational status of a first vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
detecting, by an internal sensor of the first vehicle, a presence of at least one first occupant within the first vehicle;
classifying, by the internal sensor, the at least one first occupant in at least one classification;
communicating, by the internal sensor, a signal to an accessory display that is mounted to the first vehicle such that a screen of the accessory display faces in a direction pointing away from the first vehicle, wherein the screen is not visible by the at least one first occupant of the first vehicle and is visible by persons located outside of the first vehicle and or a perception system of another vehicle;

performing the following operations while the first vehicle is driving:
presenting on the screen a first electronic message reporting the at least one classification to at least one of said persons located outside the first vehicle and/or to at least one second occupant of another second vehicle;
detecting, by an external sensor coupled to the first vehicle, at least one condition of an environment surrounding the first vehicle;
selecting, by the external sensor, a standard from a plurality of standards based on at least the classification, wherein the plurality of standards comprise an adjacent vehicle falling below a minimum separation distance from the first vehicle, and or an adjacent vehicle exceeding a specified speed threshold;
determining, by the external sensor, whether the standard is met based on the at least one condition of the environment; and
responsive to the standard being met, performing the following operations:
controlling operations of the first vehicle to change a driving pattern thereof; and
controlling operations of the accessory display to (i) modify a visual feature of the first electronic message being presented on the screen, and/or (ii) add a different second electronic message to the screen whereby the first and second electronic messages are concurrently presented so as to both be visible by persons located outside the first vehicle and or by the perception system of the another second vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one classification is selected from the group consisting of a disabled human, an elderly human of at least 65 years of age, and a human child of less than 5 years of age.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the classifying step comprises determining with the internal sensor that a seat in the first vehicle is occupied.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the internal sensor is electrically coupled to the first vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal sensor is electrically coupled to a child car seat.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting driving behavior with the internal sensor,
reporting information from the internal sensor to a transmitter located in the first vehicle, and
communicating the information from the transmitter located in the first vehicle to a receiver located in the second vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the receiver activates an internal display in the second vehicle and/or adjusts the mechanical function of the second vehicle.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second vehicle is selected from the group consisting of a manually operated vehicle, semi-autonomous vehicle, or self-driving vehicle.

9. A system for detecting and reporting occupant and operational status of a first vehicle, said system comprising:
an occupant detector configured to detect a presence of at least one first occupant within the first vehicle and classify the at least one first occupant in at least one classification;
at least one external sensor coupled to the first vehicle and configured to detect at least one condition of an environment surrounding the first vehicle, select a standard from a plurality of standards based on at least the classification, and determine whether the standard is met based on the at least one condition of the environment, wherein the plurality of standards comprise an adjacent vehicle falling below a minimum separation distance from the first vehicle, and or an adjacent vehicle exceeding a specified speed threshold; and
at least one accessory display device mounted to the first vehicle such that a screen of the accessory display device faces in a direction pointing away from the vehicle, wherein the screen is not visible by the at least one first occupant of the first vehicle and is visible by persons located outside of the first vehicle;
wherein a first electronic message is presented on the screen which reports the at least one classification to at least one said persons located outside the first vehicle and/or to at least one second occupant of another second vehicle;
wherein the system is configured to perform the following operations when the first vehicle is driving and the standard is met:
control operations of the first vehicle to change a driving pattern thereof; and
control operations of the display to (i) modify a visual feature of the first electronic message being presented on the screen, and/or (ii) add a different second electronic message to the screen whereby the first and second electronic messages are concurrently presented.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system is configured to permit a user to manually enter occupant information.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the occupant detector comprises at least one internal sensor.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one internal sensor comprises at least one of a pressure sensor, a movement sensor, an infrared sensor, a sound detection device, a facial recognition sensor, an iris recognition sensor, and a fingerprint sensor.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one external sensor comprises at least one of a thermometer, a barometer, a wind sensor, a speedometer, an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a capacitive displacement sensor, a radar sensor, a Doppler effect sensor and a Hall-effect sensor.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one accessory display device comprises at least one of a head-up display, bulb lighting, an electroluminescent (ELD) display, a liquid crystal (LCD) display, a light-emitting diode (LED) display, a quantum dot (QLED) display, an OLED display, a thin-film transistor display (TFT), a segment display, a laser display, and a digital light processing display.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the visual feature of the first electronic message comprises an illumination density or a color.

16. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a transmitter and a receiver, wherein the transmitter communicates information to the receiver regarding at least one of an occupant status, vehicle operation status, weather conditions, traffic patterns, vehicle location, vehicle speed, and roadway hazards.

Assignees

• Florida Atlantic Univ Board Of Trustees

Inventors

• Nojoumian Mehrdad

Classifications

• B60W2420/40

  Photo, light or radio wave sensitive means, e.g. infrared sensors · CPC title

• B60W30/08

  Active safety systems} predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision {or attempting to minimise its consequences · CPC title

• B60N2/267

  alerting means responsive to presence or absence of children · CPC title

• B60N2/266

  with detection or alerting means responsive to presence or absence of children; with detection or alerting means responsive to improper locking or installation of the child seats or parts thereof · CPC title

• B60N2210/40

  Force or pressure sensors · CPC title